Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Almost two out of every three people surveyed by Accenture could recall seeing like icons while watching TV and one third have proceeded to “interact with social media” after seeing such a thumbs-up or similar logo on the broadcast screen.

The 1,000 television viewers Accenture surveyed said they knew how to engage with the following social media icons they’ve seen on the screen:

As for how many of the survey respondents actually interacted with any of these symbols as they pertained to TV programming they were currently watching:

Clicked like on Facebook for the program: 20 percent;

Scanned a QR code while watching television: 11 percent;

Searched for the hashtag on Twitter: seven percent;

Scanned the Shazam symbol: five percent.

The biggest motivation for doing the aforementioned things was to learn more about what was being watched, either the show on TV or the product or service in an advertisement, with 43 percent of respondents saying they did this. Other motivations included:

Getting coupons and promotional codes, 32 percent;

Entering a contest or sweepstakes, 31 percent;

Watching another video, 26 percent;

Interacting about the show or product on social media, 26 percent;

Connecting with others with similar interests, 21 percent;

Sharing or recommending watched content to others, 20 percent; and

Making a purchase, 16 percent.

Not too surprisingly, younger survey respondents were the most practiced in using social media while watching television. The proportion who had interacted this way among different age groups was:

Social media and social networking are exploding across television screens as networks use social media to enable audiences to interact directly with related content for a richer viewing experience. This has huge revenue growth potential as social media applications build program viewer loyalty and drive online advertising opportunities.

The challenge to providers unlocking this enormous growth is convincing viewers that interacting with TV programming is valuable to them. You do that by offering compelling content that enhances the viewing experience coupled with things that extend the value into other areas of their lives. In parallel, you might make social media easier for viewers to use by integrating these capabilities into your existing distribution infrastructure.